The signs – in English and Spanish – hangs in the Linthicum Community Library’s bathroom.

This could be someone’s refuge. Someone’s salvation could come from the unlikeliest of locations.

Nestled in a bedroom community where kids are playing in the summer sun, the library is adjacent to single-family homes with manicured lawns. But suburbia is no shield to the horrors of humanity.

Signs like those in the Linthicum library’s bathroom are part of an awareness campaign designed to awaken residents about the horrific reality.

Linthicum’s proximity to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, Arundel Mills Mall, Live Casino, conference centers, interstate highways and Baltimore make it an attractive locale for human traffickers. It’s part of the reason Anne Arundel County ranks only behind Baltimore City in terms of human trafficking in the state.

Traffickers are attracted by opportunity and money. Anne Arundel – and its millions of annual visitors – have plenty of each.

While sex trafficking might generate the most headlines, problems are also percolating around worker trafficking. Fighting each is complicated because often the victims don’t realize they are being abused or are reluctant to speak out even if they do.

Traffickers are pouring into Maryland, victim advocates say, and they’re often undetectable. Hollywood oversimplifies it. Traffickers don’t chain victims to the floor and force them into sexual slavery.

Victims are moved often and the signs of abuse are often subtle. Sometimes, that means undocumented residents accepting heinous working conditions or wages because they fear deportation if their abusers report them.

Or, it could mean being forced into the sex industry because a trafficker has possession of your passport. Other victims suffer working for slave wages at nail salons, massage parlors or restaurants because they have been mentally manipulated.

A common component to human trafficking is some factor of coercion. It’s that trait that might be the trigger for salvation for victims. Perhaps, they might have a moment of clarity if they see signs offering assistance.

For county residents, it’s critical to acknowledge the problem. It might be an underground world operating in the shadows but victims are among us. Traffickers thrive by controlling their victims.